Home Again

My flight home went off without a hitch. I'm home safe and sound. I spent one last night on the airport floor to save myself the expense of a room and early morning taxi. Being home isn’t as bad as I was dreading it to be. It’s great to see my mom and dad and grandma again, and nice to not have to pay for a place to sleep every night.

Because I changed my ticket to make my trip longer I only had three full days in Port Angeles before I move in at Seattle University. (One of which was spent mostly in Seattle seeing the Flaming Lips with my dad.) I’ve been too busy packing and visiting people to really miss traveling just yet. I’m guessing, however, it’ll only take about half a week into the school year before I’m desperate to be on the road again.

I’ve had some experience traveling now, and with that comes the experience of coming home, sometimes just as exciting as the trip itself…for a few days anyway. Upon getting back from other trips I’ve found that people tend to ask the same questions. I’ll be answering those typical questions below. Enjoy!

How was your trip? Great, amazing, fulfilling, fun, exiting, relaxing, educational, disorganized, enjoyable, addictive, adventurous, probably the best summer I’ve ever had.

What was your favorite place? Poland was my favorite country. My favorite city is a toss up between Krakow and Prague, and my favorite place to stay was Back Packer Guest House in Budapest.

Did you meet any cute boys? Yes. Lots.

What was the coolest thing you saw? The cathedral made of human bones in Kunta Hora, and Sziget music festival.

Most beautiful places? Zakopane area in southern Poland and the Adriatic coast.

Did anything really scary ever happen? Not really, I felt pretty safe the whole trip. I think people were watching out for me/felt sorry for me a little because I’m a young girl traveling by myself. Although whenever I fell asleep on a train I was always worried I wouldn’t wake up in time for the right stop.

How did you afford it? I’ve been working two jobs the last year and three at the beginning of the summer. I stayed on budget by camping whenever I could, buying food from grocery stores, and self-guided tours with the help of my guide book instead of paying for a guide.

What was the most difficult thing you had to do? Come home.

What did you miss the most? Sleeping with my cat on my pillow…except for nights I was camping, those nights I just missed a pillow. I missed breakfast cereal, the ability to communicate, easy access to a gym, and customer service people who at least pretend to like their job.

Now that you’re home, what do you miss from traveling? I miss inexpensive shopping, European drinking ages, old buildings, good public transport, beautiful European men. I miss being able to blow off embarassing situations with “They all know I’m a tourist and I’ll never see any of them again…” I miss sleeping in, relaxing in parks or on beaches, doing what ever I want and lack of routine and responsibility.

Lucy’s next big adventure? COLLEGE!


I have some nice pictures from Holland and homecoming that I want to share with everyone. It’ll have to wait until later though, because the computer I’m on at the moment won't upload them.

Also, I don’t plan on closing down this web-log any time soon. I think it’s been an easy and successful way to stay in touch with anyone who wants to follow my trip. As some of you know, Madeline, my sister, is living in Bolivia as an exchange student for this school year. If you’ve enjoyed following me on this trip and reading my blog, I’d be so happy for some help traveling! If you want to get me an early Christmas or birthday present then I’d really really, really appretiate any amount of money so I can afford to go see Maddy for Christmas break. I’ll post journal entries here as I’ve been doing for the last seven weeks. If it works out it’ll be a great trip and so nice to see my sister!

I had a really wonderful time. I’m so glad I could share my trip. Thanks for checking in, and make sure to give it another look in a few days for the last of my pictures. Thank you all for traveling with me!!
Love Lucy